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Abraham Lincoln on Criticism

"If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference."

Consider the Cost

"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events." ~Winston Churchill

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Charles Spurgeon

"Our blessed Lord reveals himself to his people more in the valleys, in the shades, in the deeps, than he does anywhere else. He has a way and an art of showing himself to his children at midnight, making the darkness light by his presence."

Progress through Perseverance

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or whether the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; Who, at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; And who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
It is far better to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight of life, knowing neither victory nor defeat.
~ Theodore Roosevelt

Psalm 7:10-17

God will uncase the hypocrites ere long, and make them know, to their sorrow, what is was to trifle with Him." - Richard Baxter

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The Reformed Pastor – Richard Baxter

“We must carry on our work with patience. We must bear with many abuses and injuries from those to whom we seek to do good. When we have studied for them, and prayed for them, and exhorted them, and beseeched them with all earnestness and condescension, and given them what we are able, and tended them as if they had been our children, we must look that many of them will requite us with scorn and hatred and contempt, and account us their enemies, because we ‘tell them the truth.’ Now, we must endure all this patiently, and we must unweariedly hold on in doing good, ‘in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, peradventure, will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.’ We have to deal with distracted men who will fly in the face of their physician, but we must not, therefore, neglect their cure. He is unworthy to be a physician, who will be driven away from a frenetic patient by foul words. Yet, alas, when sinners reproach and slander us for our love, and are more ready to spit in our faces, than to thank us for our advice, what heart-risings will there be, and how will the remnants of old Adam (pride and passion) struggle against the meekness and patience of the new man! And how sadly do many ministers come off under such trials!”

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The Healing Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter is about a retired Amish couple that moved to Florida for the winter. The husband, Lamar enjoys the change of scenery and has found the slower pace to be invigorating but the wife, Emma, soon finds she is bored and pining for her family and friends back home. To remedy her unsettled feeling, they advertise a 6-week beginner quilt class, hoping to use the class to encourage others and give Emma something to do.

Six people sign up and soon relationships develop between the couple and their students. The author weaves others into the story and connects them with the students in some way.

The story started out fairly slow, and was quite wordy with chitchat amongst the characters. A little more than halfway through the book the story became more interesting with each person’s problems coming to light and then resolving, mostly through their new relationships that developed at the quilting group.

The author does a good job at presenting the Amish couple as being compassionate, truly caring to impact others through the quilting class. The book was an encouragement to get involved in other people’s lives to make a difference as the main characters, the Amish couple had done.

I was given this book by Handlebar Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Author Bryant Wright explains the reasons behind the current Middle East conflict in his book Seeds of Turmoil. He takes the reader through the history of the Nation of Israel and the Arab peoples, beginning with Abraham and traveling through his family history. He shows us how this conflict began long before 1948, when Israel became a nation.

I found his book a bit redundant, explaining or citing the same Bible stories over and over with each new point. I suppose if the reader was not familiar with the Bible, this would not be as annoying, but it tempted me to skim the book rather than read through it with anticipation. I find this significantly determines how interesting or captivating a book can be.

The most interesting point he made was the fact that Christians, Arabs, and Muslims all claim Abraham as their father (which I’d not really thought of before), and is the basis for a lot of the religious conflict today. He also encouraged Christians to love those who are in opposition to what we know as the truth of God’s Word – not to alienate or argue with them, but to show the love of God and talk of His saving grace. He reminds us they are a people without Christ and we ought to seek their salvation instead of their demise. This would give anyone pause since there is a lot of fear connected with the threat of Islam to our national security.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

This book, from Christian Encounters by Mitch Stokes, is a biography on Isaac Newton. It gives an inspiring look into a man’s life who considered his faith to be the starting point as he delved into the world of science and mathematics. Though a short book, I found it to be very interesting, sparking my desire to learn more of this amazing man from the past.

Through his God given intellect, obsession for detail, and a penchant for solitude and study, he made amazing discoveries, contributing to our world like none other. The part I was particularly encouraged by was the fact that Isaac Newton saw the scientific world as a way to explain God’s wondrous works in nature. It appears that his desire to understand the intricisies of the world was fueled by his study of theology and desire to know God. His life demonstrated his belief that, “To be constantly engaged in studying and probing into God’s actions was true worship.”

The surprising part of Isaac Newton’s life was his obvious humility. Though he was brilliant and ahead of his peers in his discoveries, he was surprisingly quiet about it. Only after a tremendous amount of prodding from his fellow scientists and philosophers did he agree to publish his work. It is fortunate for us that he did and yet it leads me to wonder what other discoveries, the ones he did not share with the world, he made and what a difference it may have made to the world if he had shared them.

This would be a great book to add to your children’s reading list. We need to introduce our children to real men of faith. Our world is so full of fake, self-absorbed people who are sending the wrong message to our kids. This book will provide them with a view of a man who sought God in every area of his personal and professional life. I recommend this book to both adults and students.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Amy Carmichael

“If souls can suffer alongside, and I hardly know it, because the spirit of discernment is not in me, then I know nothing of Calvary love.“

Welcome to my blog.

My name is Val. I am wife to Mark, mother to 15 and Grammie to 11. Along with serving in my church, I minister to others through writing and blogging. I am also a photographer, graphic designer and professional organizer. It is my desire to serve God with my life and be a blessing to my family as well as those around me.

Want God’s Best?

“God reserves His best for those who leave the choice to Him.” Pastor Randy King